


The road to the mailbox

by LivingTheDream (frostedmist)



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst, M/M, Slice of Life, fuck them two
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-07
Updated: 2014-09-07
Packaged: 2018-02-16 10:20:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2266086
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/frostedmist/pseuds/LivingTheDream
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"He would then open the mailbox, ignore the rest of the mail and search for a special envelope, blue like his eyes and red like <i>his</i> hair. When he found it, if he found it, he would forget everything else and just sit on the damp grass and read.</p><p><i>Dear Sosuke...</i>"</p>
            </blockquote>





	The road to the mailbox

**Author's Note:**

> I don't even know if this is grammatically correct, but I needed to write again. Feels good to be back, even for a bit.
> 
> Suggested songs: [Youth](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VEpMj-tqixs), Daughter; [Walk in the rain](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a_ardjeNEk4), Passenger.

At first, the road to the mailbox was very short. Sosuke would get off his bed in the morning, and _every_ morning, still in his pyjamas, he would go down the stairs, cross the kitchen, open the main door, squint his eyes because of the sun, move a few steps down the gravel path and finally get to the mailbox – a really sober one, of a faint cream colour that blended really well with the rest of the buildings.

He would then open the mailbox, ignore the rest of the mail and search for a special envelope, blue like his eyes and red like _his_ hair. When he found it, _if_ he found it, he would forget everything else and just sit on the damp grass and _read_.

 

_Dear Sosuke,_

_how are you doing without me? I'm doing good so far. This place is sooo strange! Like, the buildings are so tall and everyone is so different and the language is so difficult! But I really like it here, the food is good and the training is even harder than I thought. Soon my family will go back home and I know I will miss them a lot. I miss you though. Because I hate you. 'Cause we're rivals and everything. I will beat you so hard you will cry like my little sister when I'm done here. Just you wait._

_Rin_

 

Then he would answer his mother's scolds and go back inside. He would get dressed, eat his breakfast, go to school. But his lessons could wait, since he had something more important to do: answer. So he would spend the entire morning, pen in hand, blank page on his desk, just writing and editing and writing again, only to send the letter while going back home. Finally, he would go swimming, training like he had never done before.

 

*

 

After a few years, the road to the mailbox became a little bit longer. Sosuke would get off his bed in the morning, do his daily sit-ups and, but _not quite_ _every_ morning, still in his pyjamas, he would go down the stairs, cross the kitchen, open the main door, squint his eyes because of the sun, move a few steps down the gravel path and finally get to the mailbox – a quite old one, with a little bit of rust on the hidden corners.

He would then open the mailbox, take the whole pack of mail and go back into the house right after, lazily browsing through the envelopes and leaving them on the table. When he found a special one, _if_ he found a special one, he would smile and the right corner of his lips would lift, then he would sit in front of his breakfast and _read_.

 

_Hoy Sosuke, how's life? Sorry if I haven't written in a while, I always plan to do it at night but when I get to the dorm the only thing I want to do is sleep. They are killing me here! I hope I don't hurt myself in the process of BECOMING THE BEST! Heh! Are you still training? I sure hope so. I still want to beat your ass, you know! Anyway, after all, I know you're all right there, probably better off without a bragger like me! I've got to go now, but I'll get back to you. I promise._

_Don't cry too much while I'm away,_

_Rin_

 

Then he would put the letter in his pocket, finish his breakfast, go to school. He would try and listen to all his lessons, but his mind would wonder somewhere far away, thinking about what to say, what to keep to himself, what lie about, what truth Rin actually deserved. Then, once out of school, he would go training so hard his muscles shouted and screamed _sleep! Rest! Give us a break, for fuck's sake!_ So he would go home and collapse on his bed, the letter in the jacket's pocket on the desk and his friend's red hair hidden somewhere, probably down deep in his brain, if not down deep in his heart. The morning after his mother would do the laundry, and she had always been kind of a inattentive woman.

 

*

 

In the end, the road to the mailbox became an odyssey. Sosuke would get off his bed, in the morning, do his daily warm-up, push-ups, sit-ups and weightlifting, go down the stairs straight into the kitchen and eat his breakfast. He would read a swimming magazine while doing so, and then he would be off to training. He would push himself so hard his parents would pick him up at the end of the day, without saying a single word, and bring him back home while he was already half-asleep in the back seat. Sosuke would then get off the car, holding his shoulder in place while doing so, and walk slowly towards the gravel path. He would look at the mailbox with half-closed eyes and ask his father if any mail arrived. He would shake his head and precede him inside, leaving him there, staring at the empty, old box for a few seconds. Then he would get inside, lay on his bed, and _think_.

 

 _Hey Rin. I miss you, friend_.

 

*

 

One day, Sosuke hadn't even left the bed yet when a text lit up his phone.

 

 _Sosuke, it's Gou, Rin's sister, remember? He came back. I thought you might want to know_.

 

And suddenly, the room and his head and his whole life spun around and in front of his eyes while he remembered all the letters he left unanswered and all his replies that never arrived, he remembered how they used to run and laugh and bet and _be rivals_ and thought that maybe – maybe – there was still some hope, for him, out there.

 

Maybe there _was_ , or maybe it had just left to Australia only to finally _be back_.

 

 

 

 

 


End file.
